Alabama Lawmakers May Ban Mind-Altering Plant

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Tuesday is the deadline for Alabama
legislators to decide whether they are going to ban the sale of a
mind-altering plant in Alabama.
Two bills to outlaw the plan - Salvia divinorum - are awaiting a
vote in the Senate. But Tuesday is the last day for the bills to
pass in the nearly completed 2008 legislative session.
Nine states have already banned this form of salvia or
restricted its sale. One Senate sponsor, Hank Erwin, says the
chances of passing his bill Tuesday are slim.

- According to the website www.salvia-divinorum.com, the Salvia divinorum is a plant from the mint family and a species of sage that is used for its psychoactive effects. Salvia is endemic only to the Mazatec region of the Sierra Madre mountains in Oaxaca, Mexico. The website also says that users can smoke the leaves, or roll them up and chew them.